# Jeremiah 17

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**Jeremiah 17** is the seventeenth [chapter](/source/Chapters_and_verses_of_the_Bible) of the [Book of Jeremiah](/source/Book_of_Jeremiah) in the [Hebrew Bible](/source/Hebrew_Bible) or the [Old Testament](/source/Old_Testament) of the [Christian](/source/Christianity) [Bible](/source/Bible). This book contains prophecies attributed to the [prophet](/source/Biblical_prophet) [Jeremiah](/source/Jeremiah), and is one of the [Books of the Prophets](/source/Nevi'im). This chapter includes the third of the passages known as the "[Confessions of Jeremiah](/source/Confessions_of_Jeremiah)" ().[1]

## Text

The original text of this chapter is written in the [Hebrew language](/source/Biblical_Hebrew). [This chapter is divided into](/source/Chapters_and_verses_of_the_Bible) 27 verses.

### Textual witnesses

Some early [manuscripts](/source/Biblical_manuscript) containing the text of this chapter in [Hebrew](/source/Biblical_Hebrew) are of the [Masoretic Text](/source/Masoretic_Text) tradition, which includes the [Codex Cairensis](/source/Codex_Cairensis) (895), [the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets](/source/Codex_Babylonicus_Petropolitanus) (916), [Aleppo Codex](/source/Aleppo_Codex) (10th century), [Codex Leningradensis](/source/Leningrad_Codex) (1008).[2] Some fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the [Dead Sea Scrolls](/source/Dead_Sea_Scrolls), i.e., 4QJera (4Q70; 225-175 BCE[3][4]) with extant verses 8‑26.[5][6]

There is also a translation into [Koine Greek](/source/Koine_Greek) known as the [Septuagint](/source/Septuagint) (with a different verse numbering), made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the [Septuagint](/source/Septuagint) version include [Codex Vaticanus](/source/Codex_Vaticanus) (**B**; \mathfrak{G}B; 4th century), [Codex Sinaiticus](/source/Codex_Sinaiticus) (**S**; [BHK](/source/Biblia_Hebraica_(Kittel)): \mathfrak{G}S; 4th century), [Codex Alexandrinus](/source/Codex_Alexandrinus) (**A**; \mathfrak{G}A; 5th century) and [Codex Marchalianus](/source/Codex_Marchalianus) (**Q**; \mathfrak{G}Q; 6th century).[7] Verses 1-4 are not found in the [Septuagint](/source/Septuagint).[8][9]

## Parashot

The *[parashah](/source/Parashah)* sections listed here are based on the [Aleppo Codex](/source/Aleppo_Codex).[10] Jeremiah 17 is a part of the *Sixth prophecy ([Jeremiah 14](/source/Jeremiah_14)-17)* in the section of *Prophecies of Destruction ([Jeremiah 1](/source/Jeremiah_1)-[25](/source/Jeremiah_25))*. {P}: open *parashah*; {S}: closed *parashah*.

- {S} 17:1-4 {S} 17:5-6 {S} 17:7-10 {S} 17:11-13 {P} 17:14-18 {S} 17:19-27 {P}

## The sin and punishment of Judah (17:1–11)

### Verse 1

- *The sin of [Judah](/source/Kingdom_of_Judah) is written with a pen of iron,* - *and with the point of a diamond:*
- *it is graven upon the table of their heart,* - *and upon the horns of your altars;*[11]

Similarly, in :

- *Oh, that my words were written … with an iron pen.*

The image of "sin written with an iron pen" is used by [Israeli poets](/source/Israeli_poetry) Dvora Amir, Dahlia Falah and Liat Kap, criticising Israel's [occupation](/source/Israeli_Occupation_of_Palestine) of lands conquered in the [1967 war](/source/Six-Day_War), and the resulting oppression of the Palestinian people.[12]

### Verses 5-8

Verses 5-8 contrast the prospects for a tree in a desert and a tree whose roots can reach water, and apply these images to [curse](/source/Curse#In_the_Bible) one man and bless another. Verna Holyhead suggests that the tree by water has been carefully [transplanted](/source/Transplanting) there, from the desert, in order that it can survive:[13]

- *For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,*
- *Which spreads out its roots by the river,*
- *And will not fear when heat comes;*
- *But its leaf will be green,*
- *And will not be anxious in the year of drought,*
- *Nor will cease from yielding fruit.*[14]

- One who "trusts in the Lord" (verse 7) is described as a "fruitful, well-watered tree" (; ; ).[15]
- "Fear" (from Hebrew: ירא ; as in [Masoretic](/source/Masoretic_Text) [Ketiv](/source/Qere_and_Ketiv), [LXX](/source/LXX) and [Vulgate](/source/Vulgate)): in [Qere](/source/Qere_and_Ketiv) and [Targum](/source/Targum) read "see" (from Hebrew: יראה ).[16]

## See also

- [Benjamin](/source/Benjamin)
- [David](/source/David)
- [Jerusalem](/source/Jerusalem)
- [Judah](/source/Kingdom_of_Judah)
- [Negev](/source/Negev)
- [Sabbath](/source/Sabbath)
- Related [Bible](/source/Bible) parts: [Psalm 1](/source/Psalm_1), [Psalm 92](/source/Psalm_92), [Proverbs 3](/source/Proverbs_3), [Jeremiah 14](/source/Jeremiah_14), [Jeremiah 15](/source/Jeremiah_15)

## References

1. Diamond, A. R. (1987), [The Confessions of Jeremiah in Context](https://epdf.tips/queue/the-confessions-of-jeremiah-in-context-scenes-of-prophetic-drama-jsot-supplement.html), JSOTSup 45, Sheffield

1. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.

1. Cross, F.M. *apud* Freedman, D.N.; Mathews, K.A. (1985). *The Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll (11QpaleoLev)*. Winona Lake, Indiana. p. 55

1. Sweeney, Marvin A. (2010). [*Form and Intertextuality in Prophetic and Apocalyptic Literature*](https://books.google.com/books?id=KIxMAwAAQBAJ). Vol. 45. Forschungen zum Alten Testament. reprint ed. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 66. ISBN 9781608994182. [ISSN 0940-4155](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0940-4155)

1. Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (2008). [*A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TILXeWJ2eNAC). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 37. ISBN 9780802862419. Retrieved February 15, 2019.

1. Ulrich, Eugene (ed.) (2010). [*The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants*](https://archive.org/details/TheBiblicalQumranScrolls). Brill. pp. 566–567. ISBN 9789004181830. Retrieved May 15, 2017.

1. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.

1. ["Swete's Septuagint: Jeremiah 17"](https://biblehub.com/sepd/jeremiah/17)[dead link]

1. ["Table of Order of Jeremiah in Hebrew and Septuagint"](https://www.ccel.org/bible/brenton/Jeremiah/appendix.html). *www.ccel.org*

1. As reflected in the [Jewish Publication Society's 1917 edition of the Hebrew Bible in English](http://mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0.htm).

1. [KJV](/source/King_James_Version)

1. [With an Iron Pen: Twenty Years of Hebrew Protest Poetry](http://www.sunypress.edu/p-4813-with-an-iron-pen.aspx), edited by [Tal Nitzán](/source/Tal_Nitz%C3%A1n) and [Rachel Tzvia Back](/source/Rachel_Tzvia_Back), 2009

1. Holyhead, V. (2006), [Welcoming the Word in Year C: With Burning Hearts](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Welcoming-Word-Year-Burning-Hearts/dp/0814618340/ref=sr_1_1), p. 97, Liturgical Press

1. : [NKJV](/source/New_King_James_Version)

1. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, Indexed. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, Editors. Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2007. p. 1105-1107 Hebrew Bible. ISBN 978-0195288810

1. Notes on Jeremiah 17:8 in NKJV.

## Bibliography

- Ulrich, Eugene (ed.) (2010). [*The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants*](https://archive.org/details/TheBiblicalQumranScrolls). Brill.
- Würthwein, Ernst (1995). [*The Text of the Old Testament*](https://books.google.com/books?id=FSNKSBObCYwC). Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

## External links

### Jewish

- [Jeremiah 17 Hebrew with Parallel English](http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1117.htm)

### Christian

- [Jeremiah 17 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate](http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=28&c=17)

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